Put God First

Read Haggai Ch. 1

We need to put God first in our lives.  It seems strange, but the other things in our life will be better if we put God first than if we put the other things first. In Haggai 1, it shows this when it says:

"You have sown much, and bring in little;
You eat, but do not have enough;
You drink, but you are not filled with drink;
You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm;
And he who earns wages, earns wages to put into a bag with holes."

It goes on to say that the above was caused by God because the people rebuilt their own houses, but neglected to rebuild God's house, the temple.  God gave them another chance and they decided to rebuild the temple.  God gives lots of second chances.  I need to put God first in my life.
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I found this in a notebook from sixth grade when I was home for Thanksgiving.  It was a good reminder of having childlike faith in God and His word, something I often forget in the burdens of life.  Sorry I haven't posted lately; there's quite a few topics to share, but I haven't made the time to write.  I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and put your eyes on Jesus as we approach Christmas!

Sacrificing our Desires (Obedience)

I’d like to share a little about what God has shown me about obedience.  John 14:21 says, “He who has my commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.  And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”  Let’s start by reading the story of Abraham and Isaac:

Genesis 22:1-12: Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!”  And he said, “Here I am.”  2. Then he said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”  3. So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.  4. Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off.  5. And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”  6. So Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife, and the two of them went together.  7. But Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father!”  And he said, “Here I am, my son.”  Then he said, “Look, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”  8. And Abraham said, “My son, God will provide for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering.”  So the two of them went together.  9. Then they came to the place which God had told him.  And Abraham built an altar there and placed the wood in order; and he bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, upon the wood.  10. And Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.  11. But the Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”  So he said, “Here I am.”  12. And He said, “Do not lay your hand on the lad, or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.”

Isaac was Abraham’s future and the fulfillment of God’s promise to him.  God had told Abraham he would make him a great nation with descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky.  Isaac’s birth was a miracle since his wife Sarah was 90 years old.  Also, in that time a person’s firstborn child was even more important than today, since that was their heir and how their name would continue.  So it was a huge test of Abraham’s faith in God and his willingness to obey when God told him to sacrifice his only son.

God can also test our faith and obedience by asking us to sacrifice our greatest desire and our future to Him.  Whatever we place our highest value on, He may ask us to turn over to Him.

Here are a few verses about God’s plan for our lives:

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.

Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

Philippians 4:19 And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Lamentations 3:25-29 The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.  It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.  It is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth.  Let him sit alone and keep silent, because God has laid it on him; let him put his mouth in the dust—there may yet be hope.

These verses show that God’s thoughts towards us are good and that He wants to bless us and give us abundant lives full of joy.  Since this is true, then why does God sometimes test us and make us go through difficult circumstances?  James 1:2-3 says, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.  But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”  Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

These verses show that trials demonstrate our faith and develop patience in us.  This process strengthens us and shapes our character.  Tests can also show us where we are at, just like in school.  If students study all the time and are never tested, it’s hard to know if they’ve actually learned the material or not.  Similarly, tests God sends us show if we’re absorbing His word into our lives and living in obedience to Him.  Something Pastor Steve said is that “When there is a difference between where you are at and where God promised you to be, there is potential for the enemy to mock you or for God to develop your character.”

At times it is difficult to believe God will work things out.  A couple examples of unbelief in the Bible are when the disciples were in the boat and Jesus was sleeping during the storm, as well as the Israelites when they were in the desert after escaping Egypt.  The disciples had seen Jesus do many miracles, but still they feared for their lives and cried out to Jesus questioning if He cared that they were perishing.  The Israelites had seen the ten plagues God sent on the Egyptians, the Red Sea parted, God’s provision to send them manna from heaven for food, and His continual presence above the camp as a pillar of fire or a cloud, but still they constantly doubted and disobeyed what God told them to do.  I sometimes question how they could be so blind and unbelieving even after all they had seen God do, but I realize I am guilty of the same thing.  God has blessed me so abundantly at every stage of my life, led me exactly where I needed to be, and protected and provided for me continuously, but still I often question and doubt His plans for the future and if He will bless me in one small area.

So what should we do?  Picture that you are a Marine on the ground in a combat mission.  It would be smart to listen to the directions given from satellites or planes flying overhead telling you which route is best to take.  While one trail may look like a safer and better path from your vantage point, the overhead imagery may reveal an ambush set there and tell you to go a way that seems more difficult.  Similarly, in our lives we can get too close to situations to see clearly.  God is infinitely better than any satellite, since nothing is hidden from Him, and he also knows everything that will happen in the future.  He sees the big picture and how everything is going to develop, and He can direct us to be a part of His perfect plan if we will listen.

It is important to have our comm lines with Him open, or we won’t be able to hear His directions.  This means we should be reading our Bibles and praying every day.  My roommate and I also don’t have TV since this sucks up time and attention and makes it harder to hear from the Lord.  Something else I do when work tempo is off the charts and the cares of this world are crowding in, is to take a day off to go for a drive, get into nature, and refocus on God.

Luke 11:11-13 says, “If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?  Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”  We sometimes we ask God for a fish, but try to take a snake and then get mad when He won’t give it to us.  Or maybe the fish we see Him holding and want to have isn’t our fish, but is something He is going to give to our brother or sister.  When we were feeding the children in the village this week, it was beautiful when a child would feed a younger one before taking any themselves.  It was also ugly when two of them would fight over a piece of bread.  We should learn from this and pray for our brothers and sisters, and rejoice when God blesses them, even if He gives them something we wanted.  Sometimes God is just using a fish to get our attention back to Him, and it’s not about the fish at all.

When God calls us to sacrifice something to Him, we have to completely surrender to His will.  Tie your desire to the altar and obey.  Don’t assume you passed the test and start untying it until He says to.  I have tried to do this in the past, and He uses circumstances to say, “What do you think you’re doing?  Put that back up there!”  While we know God wouldn’t have made Abraham kill Isaac since He is against child sacrifice, many of our desires may not be for His glory and we may actually have to drop the knife and die to our flesh and what we want.

This has been a bit theoretical so far, so let’s look at some practical applications we can use when going through trials and having to turn our plans over to God.  Philippians 4:4-7 says, “Rejoice in the Lord always.  Again I will say, rejoice!  Let your gentleness be known to all men.  The Lord is at hand.  Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”  We should step up our praise life and sing to God always, especially when we’re going through hard times.  We shouldn’t be anxious about the future, but instead thank God for what He has done and ask Him for what we want Him to do.  After that, leave it up to Him, and He will give peace to our hearts and minds.  This is a promise we can claim.  1 Thessalonians 5:16­-18 reinforces these instructions and also says to never stop praying: “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Galatians 6:9 says, “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”  I’ll go Bear Grylls on you for a second.  This verse is saying that like a lineman in football pushing with all of his strength and keeps chopping his legs even after they are screaming in pain for him to stop, we need to keep pressing forward spiritually to what God has called us to do.  It also promises that that the good we do will be rewarded, although we don’t know when or even if the reward won’t be until heaven.  This verse touches on self-discipline as well, which is something that is lacking in America.  Some of us have developed it to some extent in sports, but spiritual self-discipline is much harder.  Fighting our flesh does help our spirit though, which is one of the reasons fasting is valuable and worth doing.  As men we should develop a heart like David, who was soft towards God, but also warrior-like and courageous.  It is easy to fall completely one way or the other, but God can help us be both.

Matthew 6:34 says, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”  This verse is straightforward and tells us to just focus on the day.  God will take care of the rest of the week, month, year, and life, if we just focus on Him and follow Him today.  This doesn’t mean we can’t do some planning for the future, but we shouldn’t constantly worry and think about it.  Also, we need to be willing to drop all of our plans for life at the drop of a hat if God tells us to.  If our life goals are more important to us than what God wants us to do, and we aren’t able to lay them down, we need to pray about this and ask for Him to change our heart.

Always remember God is on the throne and everything is completely under His control.  2 Corinthians 9:8 says, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.”  It is so easy to doubt when we encounter difficulties and have to give up something we wanted, but taking our eyes off our circumstances and putting them on God can help that.  God created the entire cosmos in six days and our minor little issues are so trivial He could completely solve them in an instant without even blinking.  He just chooses not to because He is using them as a tool to work on us.

This next verse is commonly shared because it is a powerful promise.  Psalm 37:3-7 says, “Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.  Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.  He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.  Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.”  I know because I’m guilty of it that we can easily key in on the “give you the desires of your heart” part of the verse, but that is really the afterthought.  This verse is saying to be content where we are and revel in our relationship with God and how good He is to us.  Trust him, let him lead us, and wait for Him to do the work.  This is counter to what we often do when we struggle to get what we want or are unsatisfied with where He has us.

Lastly, when I talked about giving up our greatest desire at the beginning of the message, this should have thrown up red flags in your mind.  God should be the love of our life and our number one desire.  Anything else should be a distant second place.

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Most of this message was shared in Haiti last summer.  I hoped I was about to pass the test at the time, but over a year later I realize I haven’t even learned the lesson yet and I disobey every time when it’s something I really want.  I am discouraged and heavy-hearted, but can take some solace in the fact that even Abraham, the father of faith, didn’t pass his greatest test until late in his life.  He acted in unbelief many times earlier in his life before he truly trusted God with everything.  Also, I’ve learned that God is faithful to take our desires away when we’re too weak to lay them down willingly.

Facing our Fears (Part 4 of 4)

Sorry for the long delay.  Since the last blog, I’ve gone four-wheeling across the Mojave Desert and explored old ruins and lava tubes one weekend, decorated my place and did some fun stuff with my mom when she was in town for a week and a half, went to Cape Canaveral for a week to have some meetings and get tours of the launch and satellite processing facilities, had midterms for my masters, and spent a week in San Diego taking a class for work.   Anyways, back to the story.

I didn’t have to wait long for the shark to reappear.  It came hurtling out of the depths like a freight train and slammed into the side of my kayak, teeth slashing.  My kayak tipped violently and sent me overboard, but I kept a hand on it and with my adrenalin racing vaulted myself back on top almost before I hit the water.  The shark’s agility was impressive considering its massive size, and it kept circling and bumping the kayak.  Fortunately, hammerheads have troubling biting things above them because of the shape of their head.  I repeatedly jabbed at it with my paddle and had my bait knife ready as well, but it was too tough and strong to be phased by my hits.  I tossed my box of bait overboard and paddled away furiously as the shark turned and started ripping through bait.  I went as fast as I could back to the beach and thankfully the shark was appeased by the bait or decided following me wasn’t worth the effort. 

None of the last paragraph actually happened.  In reality, after the shark’s fin disappeared below the surface, I never saw any sign of it the rest of the day.  I thought about making a beeline back to shore, but realized there was no way for me to cover three and a half miles if the shark really wanted to attack.  So I decided there was no point worrying about it and went back to fishing.

The reason I made up the attack ending to the story (besides wanting to give you something exciting after the wait) is that I wanted to use the shark as a metaphor for fear in our lives.  In areas we have fear and doubt, we often create and worry about worst-case scenarios of what might happen, just like I could have started picturing the shark attacking.  But these fears may be unfounded, and even if they aren’t, all worrying about them does is panic and immobilize us.  Before we dive into that, let’s try to wrap up what the Bible says about controlling our words and who we should share them with.

There are many things we can learn from who Jesus spoke to and how he spoke.  First, realize that even Jesus, God in the flesh, looked to God the Father for guidance on what to say.  In John 14, Jesus says, “The words that I speak I do not speak on my own authority”, and “the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me.”  How much more we need to look to the Lord for guidance! 

Jesus proclaimed truth widely to whoever would hear it, and he constantly lived out what he preached.  In addition to his messages to large crowds, Jesus also spoke at an individual level to many different people.  Sometimes he delivered a message of love, understanding, forgiveness, and encouragement, and other times it was words of rebuke.  Again, look to the first point of asking the Lord for guidance, but I think reading the Gospels give a general trend of which approach should be used when.  Jesus did not speak well to people who outwardly seemed “good” and avoid or condemn the “bad” people.  Rather, his interactions with people seem to be based on the state of their heart.  If someone was open, he would encourage them, speak to them at a personal level, and point their lives in the right direction.  For example, Nicodemus, the rich young ruler, and the Samaritan woman at the well were all seeking or at least open to the Lord, and he talked with them truthfully to help them understand the state of their lives and how they could better follow the Lord.  It is important to note that Jesus met them where they were at, and addressed the questions or hurts that where most important to them.  It didn’t matter that the woman was a sinner, or that the rich ruler didn’t obey his instruction to go and sell all that he had.  Jesus just spoke the truth and trusted God for the results.  Who knows, perhaps the ruler’s heart changed over time?  Maybe later he did sell all he had and became one of the major donors for the early church in Acts.  God’s timing is often only understood by Him.

However, the other side of the coin is how Jesus talked to the religious rulers who thought they had all the answers and would not listen to anyone who thought differently from them.  Jesus, who operated constantly in perfect love, gave some very harsh tongue-lashings to the Pharisees many times.  I think he did this because such harsh measures might have been necessary to shake their beliefs, or to prevent others from following their false doctrines.  While he still spoke the truth to them, his statements were usually brief and impersonal to point out their hypocrisy and bring a quick end to the conversation.  He did this instead of speaking into their lives at a deeper level because they usually came to him with an argumentative spirit and were not looking to receive anything. 

The takeaway for us from Jesus’ example is that we should look to the Lord for guidance in our words and our lips should be overflowing with love.  Like David in Psalms 19:14, ask to “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer.”  In general, be more willing to talk deeply with those who have a soft and open heart, and wary around people who are self-righteous or hard-hearted.  Note that the first group may include people who are pursuing all the pleasures of the world, and the second group may include people in your church or Bible study. 

With that said, Jesus did have his twelve disciples who he shared more openly with, and his inner circle of Peter, James, and John who he was the closest with.  While it can be good to be close with open non-Christians, it would be wise to have your closest friendships with other believers.  Until your non-Christian friends are saved, realize you are still serving different masters.

Also, it is important for us to approach the Lord with a humble and open heart.  He loves to help us, but if we are prideful or think we have the answers, we won’t be able to receive from him.  Lastly, Proverbs 17:27 says “He who has knowledge spares his words, and a man of understanding is of a calm spirit”.  Likewise, 1 Peter 3:4 says a women’s adornment should “be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.”  These verses don’t mean extroverts should pretend to be introverted.  But it does call into question the trend in American culture to be loud so everyone knows you’re there and thinks you’re “cool”.  As servants, we shouldn’t constantly strive to be the center of attention.  In addition, if you think about people who are loud and obnoxious, they often say little worth listening to.  It is all wind and no substance.  While being outgoing is equally as good as being quiet, I think the Bible points to the importance of having strong character and actions that speak louder than our words.  We should also consider what we say and limit our words in some situations.  For some this comes naturally and for others it may take more discipline.  Speaking just to make yourself heard is not generally wise. 

Now back to the shark story and facing our fears.  This could be any type of fear, but the reason I wanted to write about it in this blog is that sometimes fear can prevent us from building relationships with people God has placed in our lives.  As Proverbs 27:5 says, “Open rebuke is better than love carefully concealed.”  I was going to go into more depth on how to overcome your fears, but decided some of it was better left to the Lord to teach people.

If you’ve run from a fear over and over or your worst fear has been realized, how do you overcome your past and move forward?  There are many different tactics you can try, but in the end there are times when we just aren’t strong enough and realize it is impossible to do in our own strength.  We should always do this, but especially at these times, the only thing we can do is look to God for deliverance.  Come to him with the heart of a child trusting in the strength and goodness of a father to help and comfort them when they are scared or hurt. 

David and Peter both modeled trusting the Lord to bring them success despite their circumstances.  David didn’t look at how much bigger Goliath was than him, but at how much smaller Goliath was than his God.  His supreme faith in the power of God enabled him to step into the valley with confidence and defeat Goliath.  His relationship with the Lord was so close that he was able to move out in faith immediately, rather than having to build up courage and pray about the situation.  In fact, his immediate action was probably better than if he had paused to think about it, because fear can build over time, and God sometimes acts on your behalf only after you step into the valley to face your giant.  Likewise, Peter looked to Jesus and was able to walk on top of the water in the middle of a storm.  It was only when he took his eyes off Jesus and saw the ferocity of the wind and waves that he began to sink.  This shows how we need to keep our eyes fixed on Him and believe in His miraculous ability to walk with us over the storms of our life, and not give in to the strong temptation to look at our situation and be filled with fear and dismay.  Usually our fears and doubts are fueled by lies from Satan, and the “shark” we imagine getting ready to attack under the surface has long since ceased being a threat.  Listening to these doubts immobilizes us and keeps us from receiving the victory and blessings God has in store for us.  With that said, there are also times when God tells us to wait on him to bring the victory, so we have to be patient, trust his perfect timing, and fight the doubts that if we don’t act now, we will miss out.  If God has something in store for us, believe He will bring it “at just the right time”, and praise Him today for what we know He will do tomorrow.

Finally, like when David talked about God helping him kill a lion and a bear, look to times when God helped you overcome difficult situations in the past and how he has prepared and equipped you for the challenges ahead.  Also, remember and trust in reassurances He has given you regarding a situation.  Journaling is important so we can look back and remember what He has said and done for us.  Otherwise we can be just like the Israelites and quickly forget how He’s continually been guiding and delivering us.  And remember Joshua 1:9: Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.

Hearing from God (Part 3 of 4)

In the first two posts, we’ve looked at the wisdom of being careful about what we say, and that this is difficult because what we speak reflects what is on our hearts.  Reading the Bible and praying regularly will make our hearts more like God’s heart (add praise and worship to the list too, I forget to mention them).  Now let’s circle back to the original question and look practically at when we should speak and who we should share with in our daily lives. 

Unfortunately, there isn’t a simple black and white rule we can use in this area.  God rarely makes things that straightforward.  Proverbs 16:1 says, “The preparations of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.”  From this, it seems that our job is draw closer to God so our hearts can be cleansed or prepared.  He then will guide us with what we should say in every situation we find ourselves in.  Many times He will use what we read in the Bible, hear in sermons, or even our own judgment to guide us.  However, He may also speak to you in a still small voice and we need to be open to hearing and obeying it.  I would highly recommend you Google and listen to Jamie Winship’s “Hearing from God” sermon series to learn a bunch more about hearing and obeying.  He also talks about how God created each of us with a unique identity He wants to use for a specific purpose, and the many tactics the enemy uses to keep us from fulfilling that purpose. 

In case the idea of God speaking directly to you is new or you’re not sure you believe it is possible, I’d like to share a couple quick examples I’ve seen personally in the last couple of months.  First, while I was on the road moving from Florida to California, I stopped and filled up on gas around lunchtime in a little town in Colorado or Arizona.  I was headed towards the Grand Canyon and had been fasting and praying that day.  As I started to drive out of town, I heard a voice telling me to stop and eat at Denny’s.  I felt like I was supposed to share with someone there.  The voice also said that I would need it for the Grand Canyon.  The voice wasn’t really audible, but more like a thought.  My initial reaction was that my stomach was trying to trick me out of fasting for the day.  However, it seemed odd that I would be resisting and feel annoyed about not fasting, if it was just me trying to convince myself.  So I swung my trusty Honda into Denny’s and went in to get some food.  The waitress was a girl a few years younger than me, and she was pretty brief with me, so I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to share.  However, as I sat there, I noticed the restaurant had been decorated with paper hearts for Valentine’s day, and the hearts had words written on them.  There were typical words you see on heart candy like “Love”, “Sweet”, etc, but some also had words like “Respect”, “Hope”, and “Faith”.  Like a tracker stumbling across a game trail, the second set of words that aren’t present in the romance vocabulary of popular culture made me realize a Christian was in the area.  I told the waitress I liked the decorations, and she brightened up quite a bit.  I then said a Christian must have put them up because of those words, and she acted unsure at first, but then agreed the girl who put them up was a Christian who was really nice.  That was the extent of our conservation and I don’t know if it had an impact, but it was what God had wanted me to do.  Also, a direct impact I do know about is the Grand Slamwich I ate helped me to get out of the Grand Canyon the next day.  I won’t go into the whole story now, but suffice it to say I pushed a little too close to my limit by hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back in an afternoon without any food or enough water, and in below freezing temperatures.  I got back to the top as the sunset was fading into night, and my calories were so completely spent that it felt like all the cells in my body were quivering.  When I got back to the warm lodge, I took a hot shower for a half hour, but was cold again as soon as I got out because my body had nothing left to burn.  I was fine as soon as I dragged myself to a restaurant and ate something, but it could’ve been much more difficult to get out of the Canyon if I had fasted the entire day before like I had originally planned.  Good thing I listened to the voice in my head.

Something important I want to point out is that I had no idea what it meant when the voice the day before told me I would need it [food at Denny’s] for the Grand Canyon.  I was puzzled at the time, but the meaning became abundantly clear by the end of the next day, and it is a good thing I obeyed even though I didn’t understand.  Too often we refuse to do what God tells us to do because we don’t see the logic in it.  How could it possibly be what He wants, what is best for us, or fit into His plan for our life?  However, we damage ourselves, and usually others as well, when we refuse to follow Him, and we lose blessings He wants to give us.  We are in effect saying we are smarter and have a more complete understanding of the situation and a better plan than Him.  We may tell ourselves we don’t think that, but our actions show what we really believe.  This lack of trust comes from our incomplete realization of how deeply God loves us.  

Here are just a few verses that talk about His love, but realize it will take time for the reality to sink into your life.  Prior to being crucified, Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13).  Psalms 139:17-18 says, “How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!  If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand.”  Our view of God may also be warped from hurts in our past.  Pray and ask God to reveal and heal those issues, and also learn more about Him and His goodness.  An amazing thing about God is He meets us where we are at.  So if this is new to you, He’ll simply ask you to take a small step that will stretch and strengthen you, but won’t be insurmountable.  And if you’ve been walking with Him for a while and your trust and belief in Him has grown, He’ll ask you to take a bigger leap of faith and challenge you to press ahead into uncharted territory.  The correct answer is to always do what He says with the absolute assurance it is the best thing you can do.  Again, believing this in our minds is fairly easy, but believing through our actions is the tough part to learn.  Our wills don’t like to submit.  However, just like eating at Denny’s made a whole lot of sense to me two days later, if we obey God, especially when it’s against our “better” judgment, we will be able to look back on our lives and see how He steered us around countless pitfalls and into many hidden blessings. 

The second example of hearing from God is when a friend of mine was having a very difficult time recently.  A neighbor in her apartment complex who she didn’t even know knocked on her door and told her everything was going to be all right.  This neighbor couldn’t speak English very well, and as they talked, it turned out that God had nudged her multiple times to go talk to my friend and encourage her.  Her eventual obedience made a huge impact on my friend, who had never seen God work directly like that to reach her.  God speaks and works every day in ways more miraculous than these two examples, but there is nothing like first-hand, recent experience.  Ask God and He will speak to you too.

It is wise to wait to hear God yourself before you act, and also keep reading your Bible and listening to sermons, because it is more common for Him to speak through those methods than speaking in a still, small voice.  Counsel from people we respect is valuable, but God will give us confirmations as well.  Also, take advice with a grain of salt if the person giving you advice has a vested interest in the situation. 

Lastly, once we hear God tell us to do something, we should do it immediately.  We can tell ourselves we are too busy, need to fix something in our lives, or aren’t strong enough to do it yet.  However, this is again a lack of trust.  If He told us to do it, He is saying we are ready for it and He will give us the strength and time to accomplish it.  And if the craziness of life keeps us from moving towards where God is calling us, the enemy will be absolutely sure to keep us busy.  Life almost always gets more complicated and demanding as it progresses, not less.  We just need to trust in God and step out in faith today.

Sorry that rabbit hole went a little deep.  I’ll wrap up applications in the next post (hopefully).  But here’s the story I’ll use as an illustration, since I promised I’d put it in this post.

It was a beautiful early spring day and I was fishing in my kayak off Navarre.  There was zero wind and the Gulf was a mirror-calm lake that morning.  Although I didn’t have GPS coordinates to good bottom-fishing spots and the water was still too cold for pelagics to be around, I started paddling out because I could and the tranquil water beckoned.  It was peaceful and felt good to be alive as my paddle sliced the water and droplets made circles on the smooth surface.  The only noises were the swishing of water and slight hum of the line trolling a plug, and an occasional seabird shrieking overhead or barely audible engine whining ten miles distant.  As time slipped by, the condos on the beach shrunk into tiny rectangular teeth gleaming in the morning sun.  Suddenly, a huge explosion ripped through the morning’s stillness.  I instantly looked back towards the source of the startling noise and saw a huge splash like someone had dropped a cannon off a ship.  As the splash settled 40 yards behind my kayak, and with my heart already racing from the unexpected noise that had pierced the silence, a fin emerged.  All this took place in half a second, and as my eyes locked onto the fin, I was transfixed, or perhaps paralyzed is a better word.  It was two feet tall and headed directly towards me. 

If you know much about fish, you realize that the frequency a fish flaps its tail can tell you something of the size and type of fish it is.  Generally, the smaller the fish, the quicker it moves its tail to swim.  A small fish might flick its tail five times a second.  The shark behind me flexed his powerful body back and forth closer to one time every five seconds, demonstrating the supreme laziness and disdain of only the largest specimens.  Of course, just seeing the size of the fin gave me a pretty good idea of its size, probably five or six times times as long as the fin was tall.  If I had to guess, it was a hammerhead.  I was starting to feel rather vulnerable, and three and a half miles seemed like a very long way back to shore.  Perhaps I shouldn’t have paddled quite so far out, regardless of how calm it was.  The shark continued its ever so effortless and yet deliberate swim towards me.   To make things worse, over the course of a minute the fin gradually sunk beneath the surface and disappeared, still aimed directly at the thin piece of plastic separating me from its cold and watery domain…

Heart Talk (Part 2 of 4)

Why is it hard (impossible in our own strength) to control what we say, and why can what we say open our hearts to being hurt?  Do our tongues really have minds of their own and rebel against us, like James 3 seemingly describes?  The problem is not that our mouth acts against our will, but that our words reveal what is truly on our hearts.  Sure you can fake it for a while and in certain settings, but sooner or later your mouth will expose your true self to people who really know you.  If your heart is filled with truth, that will overflow through your mouth, and the same is true if it is full of lies and evil.  Take a look at the following verses that speak to this connection between our heart and mouth.

Matthew 12:34    Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

Matthew 15:18    But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.

Luke 6:45    A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

That’s simple enough; all we need to do to speak good words is to have a good heart.  Man, does that open a can of worms or what?  In case some of you are thinking that your hearts are pretty good, here are a few verses to look at that.  Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” and in Matthew 15:19, Jesus says, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.”  We are all born with sin in our hearts, and some of it remains in everyone, even if it’s lurking in some hidden corner they never think about.  Most of us don’t need to look hard for problems in our hearts though, since we have plenty of them we are well aware of.

So what’s a fella to do if we all have darkness in our hearts, which will in turn escape from our mouths?  You could try to pretend it’s not there and fill your mind with entertainment and distractions, but that might not end well since ignoring a major problem very rarely fixes it.  God is the source and embodiment of all truth, love, goodness, and light, and we must turn to Him if we want to be filled with these things. 

Jesus came to earth to both proclaim and live out God’s message to us, and He is the centerpiece of history.  The Old Testament pointed to Him, and the New Testament tells us how He lived and how to follow Him.  In John 15:5, Jesus declares, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”  Just as a branch needs to be connected to a plant for it to live, grow, and produce, we need to look to Jesus and let Him be the foundation for our lives in order to be productive and healthy.  As we connect with Him, we will naturally grow and develop spiritually, and our hearts will take on his character.  Other metaphors about Jesus and what He provides are that He is light, so He drives out all darkness (John 8:12 & I John 1:5).  He gives us with living water, and He is necessary for spiritual life (John 4 and John 7:38).  And His blood redeems us and gives us life as well (John 6).  If we don’t accept these things from Him, our spiritual lives look something like the rotting skeletons in Pirates of the Caribbean.  Ewww!

So how do we make Jesus a part of our life and let him bring rejuvenation and goodness to our hearts and souls?  There are many ways since He is so multi-faceted and present everywhere (if you’re thinking I could have said omnipresent, I’m trying to keep churchy words out of this blog so anyone can read it and not feel like it’s in a foreign language), but let’s just mention the two most effective ways for now.  First, we need to be reading the Bible, so we can learn about Him and model our lives after His.  John 17:7 says, “Sanctify them by your truth.  Your word is truth.”  If you haven’t read much of it before, I’d recommend starting in John and reading a chapter a day (and don’t worry if you don’t get to it every day at first).  I read a couple pages in the New Testament and a couple in the Old as well as a Proverb and a devotional pretty much every day, but that would be a lot to start with.  It’s kinda like training for a marathon or getting in shape, where it’s better to start slowly and build up over time than to start really hard and give up a week later.  Reading the Bible gets easier as God begins to speak to you more through it, your ability to understand increases, and your your desire to read naturally grows as you develop a habitat and start to see benefits and changes.  Second, we need to spend time in prayer asking God to speak to, lead, guide, and teach us.  Like any relationship, we need to invest significant time in it if we value it and want it to grow and affect our hearts.  Pastor Steve once said that you can be as close to God as you want to be, but most of us unfortunately don’t live in the reality that the God of the universe wants to be friends with us. 

Lastly, there is a connection between how you spend your money and where your heart is at.  Matthew 6:21 says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  I won’t get into this any deeper right now, since I’ll write another time on what the Bible says about money.  Sneak preview:  If you’re an American, chances are you spend too much on yourself and don’t do enough to help the poor.  But this is again a heart matter, so focus on aligning your heart with God’s and your spending desires will fall in line down the road.

I promise, next post I’ll get to applying the stuff from the first two posts practically in our lives, and tell some shark stories J

Note:  A great resource to use for study is www.blueletterbible.org, since it can do keyword searches and shows everywhere a word or set of words shows up in the Bible.  Check it out and use it if you want to delve deeper into a particular topic.

P.S. The Bible is the foundation for these posts.  If you’re reading this and have questions about the Bible’s validity as God’s instructions for life, what makes it different than any other religious text, or any other questions, please let me know and I’ll do my best to help you find answers.

Controlling the tongue (Part 1 of 4)

A fool has no delight in understanding, but in expressing his own heart.

In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise.

A fool vents all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back.

Open rebuke is better than love carefully concealed.

The heart of the righteous studies how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours forth evil.

What exactly are these verses in Proverbs talking about?  When do we expose to others what is on our hearts, and when do we hold back?  In this age of facebook and other social media, it is extremely easy to get carried away and share your feelings with the world at large.  It is very tempting because we were created to crave connection with others, and it feels good to share what is important to us or what is on our minds at the moment, and get validation from others.  But is this always healthy or wise?  When and how much should we share, and with whom?  What sort of boundaries should we set, and who can we really trust?  How much of our feelings should you share with someone we like?  Many of us wrestle with these questions and have shared too much in the past, or we may be afraid and hold back when we should speak.  Let’s sort through what the Bible has to say on the subject.

From the verses above, it is clear that we shouldn’t just spout off everything that pops into our brains.  Instead, it paints a picture of a wise man considering his thoughts and speaking at the right time and in the right way.  Words have the power to build up as well as destroy others.  Read James 3 for more on our words.  James 3:8 says, “No man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.”  But with God all things are possible, including taming the tongue.  So what are some of the benefits of learning to control the tongue?

First, putting a delay between our brain and mouth allows God to guide us and gives us time to process and collect more information and make better decisions.  Sometimes, we have such a small part of the picture that there’s no way we can figure out what’s going on.  It’s better to wait, pray, and watch things develop than to speak out of ignorance.  Mary was a good example of this when it mentions numerous times that she pondered events that took place in Jesus’ boyhood in her heart.  Note that it doesn’t say she went squawking to all the village gossips to figure out the situation.  Many times counsel from a trusted confidant can be helpful, but sometimes God leads us down a unique and lonely path that only we can walk and others won’t understand.  Even if He only shows you the next step to take, trust that He is leading you to a good place and will supply your every need.

The second benefit of being slow to speak and careful about what we say is that it can prevent us from hurting others.  It is easy to exaggerate circumstances in our minds and overreact in the heat of the moment.  We can then lash out and cause extensive damage.  This is especially true with the people we are closest with, since we know their vulnerabilities and target those areas, leading to a fight that escalates out of control (read The DNA of Relationships by Gary Smalley to learn more about this, as well as steps to break the cycle).  Part of this problem can be solved if you place more value on your most important relationships.  It’s sad that many people who would never allow themselves to lose control in a work environment routinely go berserk at home and think it’s no big deal.  Shouldn’t we give our best to our families?  Of course, that’s easy for me to say, since I don’t have a family to come home to yet.  Nonetheless, it’s true that your family will be much better off if you view them as your most important client and employ your best servant leadership to guide them, rather than just viewing home as a place to be lazy and superficial.

The last benefit of controlling the tongue I’ll mention now is that it can protect you as well.  When you share your thoughts and feelings with others, it gives them a certain amount of power over you.  This power is commensurate with how deep or important the feeling was that you shared.  For example, what you ate for breakfast today probably isn’t core to who you are, so it wouldn’t be a big deal to share that with everyone.  But things that go a bit deeper make you more vulnerable, so it’s wise to use caution with who you open yourself up to.  I’ll discuss this more in a future blog.

So why do words have this power to hurt?  Stick and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me, right?  We all know that’s not true.  The answer lies in the innate connection between our mouths and hearts.  I’ll explore this more in the next blog, then get to how we can apply what the Bible says (complete with examples from kayak shark fishing).